Attachment for container carriers



Feb. 16, 1932. F. K. FILDES 1,845,593

ATTACHMENT FOR CONTAINER CARRIERS Filed Feb. 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES INVEN TOR:

FIG 1%.

Feb. 16, 1932. F. K. FILDES ATTACHMENT FOR CONTAINER CARRIERS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb. 9, 1931 INVENTOR: flederz'cirfflildes Patented Feb. 15, 1932 rnnnmrcx K. rILnEs, or ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA- ATTACHMENT FOR CONTAINER cArmrEns Application filed. February 9, 1931. Serial No. 514,467.

' This invention relates to container carriers for the transportation of bulk units such, for example, as the less-than-car-load units of the so-called container car service involving use of steel enclosures .which are carried from place to place either upon specially equipped railroad cars, or motor trucks and trailers.

More particularly the present improvements have reference to an attachment for ac carriers adapted to the transportation of castor-eqnipped merchandise containers, which may be rolled from a platform or other suitable structure onto, or off, the carrier as and when required.

I The primary object of this invention is to provide an attachment for flat carriers comprising co-active stationary and movable means to respectively prevent longitudinal and lateral shifting of a castor-equipped con- 21? tainer, relative to the carrier during transportation, the means restraining transverse movement having capacity for limited angular inclination away from said container when the latter is to be raised or lowered from overhead, and fall-down pivotal action if the container be rolled-off or onto the carrier.

Another object is to provide an attachment of the typified character which is simple in construction, effective for the purposes had ture and install.

With the foregoing and other objects in view as will be hereinafter apparent, tlns invention consists in general of certan novel details of construction and combinations of parts fully set forth herein, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, and specifically claimed.

In the drawings:

' Fig. I is a part side elevation of a railroad fiat car equipped with attachments embodying the present improvements.

F-ig. II is an end elevation looking toward the left hand of the preceding illustration.

Fig. III is a broken top plan view of a single attachment, on a somewhat larger scale. v

Fig. IV is an end view of the same.

Fig. V is a perspective view of astationary bearing member hereinafter fully described.

in view, and comparatively cheap to manufac- Fig. VI is a perspective view of a hinged component of the attachment efiective in use to prevent lateral shifting of the container.

I ig. VII is a perspective view of a bolt supporting element; and,

Fig. VIII is a similar view of the bolt nut.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, thenumeral 1 designates a portion of a railroad flat car, 2 the wheels, and 3 the supporting platform or floor.

f In accordance with this invention, I mount at intervalstransversely of the car floor 3 a series of attachments comprehensively designated 4, and in view of each such unit being alike, the following description is limited to 5 one only, with corresponding reference indicia applied to the others, to avoid repetitive matter.

The attachment 4 comprises duplicate end members 5 for appropriate fixture to the side sills 6 of the car 1, as by bolts or rivets 7. Each end member or stationary bracket 5, as best seen in Figs. III-V, embodies an attaching angle-section base 8, having laterally-projecting apertured ears 9, with vertical walls 10 united by an intervening web 11 and aligned buttress portions '12. At the upper ends the walls 10 have projections 13 affording attachment, as by rivets 14:, for paralleling retainer members 15; also rigidly secured together in their mid-region by spacially-arranged U-shaped or channel-section partition element 16. Each channel section partition element 16 is provided with an elongated or substantially elliptical hole 17 in the web thereof, and they are suitably secured in permanent engagement between the retainer members 15, as by rivets 18, thereby materially reinforcing the attachment structure as a whole, while the holes 17 serve for a purpose later on explained.

Hinged to the aforesaid apertured ears 9 of each stationary bracket5 by an appropriate pivot pin or bolt 19 is a movement-restraining member 20 illustrated in perspective in Fig. VI. This hinged member 20, it will be seen from the view just referred to, comprises a body portion 21, of somewhat rectangular contour, with apertured ofl'sets 22 at the lower edge whereby it is hinged to the ears 9 by the pivot pin 19. The hinged member 20 is also formed with upper and lower reinforcing flanges 23, 24, respectively, connected by vertical buttress brackets 25; while the body portion 21 is vertically outset somewhat at 2 6 and provided with a key-hole orifice 27, and at the upper part with a lateral projection 28, as well as spaced outwardly-inclined ears or guides 29, for purposes later onset forth.-

1 Retention of each hinged member 20 in operative relation with respect to the attach-u ment 4 is effected by an associated bolt 30 passed outwardly through the elliptical hole 17 of the nearer partition element 16 and the key-hole slot 27 in saidmember, This bolt- 30, itis to be noted, has a square head 31,.

fitting freely between the attachment retaining members '15; while said bolt is screwthreaded at the outer end for reception of specially formed nut 32; while the bolt head 31 is chamfered at 33, and the pair involved in the attachment {are reversely placed with respect to such. chamferings, for a reason later on explained.

Each nut 32 is at a contour conformative to the he -hole slot 27, and when moved into,

registrationtherewith, beyond the province of normally c'oactive stop projections 34 on the hinged member 20, permitssaid hinged member to be'moved thereover; while the, nut 32 is provided with a manipulator'35..

Having explained the structural features of the invention, it willbe readily seen that as eachcontainer 36 is movedinto position onthe car floor 3, between a pair of the at tachments4, that it will be held againstlongitudinal shifting, relative to the car 1 by engagement between the retainingmem rs 15 of said attachments. The hingedmembers are thereupon swung upwardly and the nuts 32 on thebolts passed through the key-hole slots 27 in the body portions 21 of said members; such passage being affected by rocking the bolts 30 vertically on the partition elements 16 as fulcrums, and as conven tionally indicated by dot-and-dash lines at the left hand of Fig. II. Incidentally, the.

chamfer. ortions 33 of the bolts 30, and the elongate holes 17in. the partition 16, accommodate such movement, while disposition of the heads 31 thereof in reverse pos1tion,-as 1 vening such platform and the car; while it is further to be remarked that it is only necesif the container 36 be lowered onto the car floor 3, by appropriate power-actuated tackle v applied from above to the links 38 at the top of said container, it is only needful to slightly move the hinged members 20 outwardly from the vertical in order to assemble said container on the floor 3. Attention is here again drawn to provision of the inclined ears 29 on the hinged members 20 which serve to guide the container-.36 into place transversely of the car 1- when lowered thereonto, as just referred to.'. Under either of the methods referred to of assembling. the containers 36 on the car '1, it will be readily appreciated that, after said containers are placed inpo-' sition, thenuts 32 are tightened up by aid of their respective manipulators 35 until the lateral projections 28, on the hingedmembers 20, abut against the side walls of. the'container'36 and thereby retain it against transverse shifting. The stop projections 34 c0- acting with the associated nut 32, efl'ectivehy revent'the bolt 30 from movement upwar y, whereby the hinged member might become released, incident to inadvertence 1n properly tightening up the nuts, or to excessive vibration during transportation tending to loosen said nuts.

I lVhen it is desired to remove-a container 36 from the car 1, the nuts 32 are loosened, and v the bolts 30 raised until the hinged-members 20 arein position wherebysaid nuts are enabled to passthe key-hole slots 27, in the manner hereinbefore explained. The container 36 is thereupon freed for removal from the car 1 to a stationary platform or wherever desired; while it is noteworthy that the nuts -32 are, preferably, permanently-retained on thebolts 30, as by aid of cotter-pins 39, wherebylosses are prevented and labor saved.

'From'the foregoing it will be understood this invention is susceptible of other ada tations, and embodiments in forms other t an that which is illustrated by the attached drawings; hence L therefore, consider as my own all such modifications thereof as fairly come within reasonable scope accorded the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, What Irclaim is:

l. The combination with a container carrier of paralleling transverse barrier attachments aflording longitudinal movementrestraint for the container, hinged members at the ends of the barrier attachments adapted for abutment with the container sides, and means having fulcrum support to each side of the carrier longitudinal center for clamping the hinged members in container abutting position, said means having capacity for angular-movement vertically for coaction with and release from the hinged members.

2. The combination with a container carrierof paralleling barrier attachments affording longitudinal movement-restraint for the container, members hinged at the ends of the attachments for abutment with the container sides to prevent lateral shifting, bolts for clamping the hinged members in container abutting position, and means permitting said bolts a limited degree of angular-movement vertically to secure and release the hinged members.

3. The combination with a container carrier of paralleling barrier attachments affording longitudinal movement-restraint for the container, members hinged at the ends of the attachments for abutment with the container sides to prevent lateral shifting, bolts for clamping the hinged members in container abutting-position, means permitting said bolts a limited degree of angular-movement vertically to secure and release the hinged members, and means on the hinged members serving to prevent release of the aforesaid bolts when clamping said members against the container sides.

4. The combination with a carrier for a multiplicity of less-than-carrier-capacity containers of a sequence of paralleling barrier attachmentsetfective to restrain longitudinal-movement of said containers, members hinged at the ends of each attachment having key-hole slots therein, clamp bolts having fulcrum support in the barrier portion of the attachments and projecting through the key-hole slots, and special nuts adapted for passage through the said slots and co-action with the hinged members to clamp the latter against the container sides or to sustain the same relatively released therefrom.

5. An attachment for flat carriers compris ing a stationary barrier, members hinged at the ends of said barrier, and clamping means having fulcrum support in and approximate'the center of the barrier for co-action with the hinged members to secure the same vertically.

6. An attachment for flat carriers comprising a stationary barrier, members hinged at the ends of said barrier with slots at right angles to their axes of movement, clamp bolts having their head ends afi'orded fulcrum support in the barrier with the threaded ends through the slots aforesaid, and nuts adapted for passage through said slots and coaction with the hinged members to secure the latter in active position or support them when inactive. 7. An attachment for flat carriers comprising a stationary barrier, members hinged at the-ends of said barrier with key-hole slots at right angles to their axes of movement, clamp bolts having their head ends afforded fulcrum support in the barrier. with the threaded ends through the key-hole slots aforesaid, and complementarily-shaped nuts adapted for passage through said key-hole slots and coaction with the hinged members to secure the latter in active position or support themwhen inactive.

8. An attachment for flat carriers comprising a stationary barrier, members hinged at the ends'of said barrier with key-hole slots at right angles to their axes of movement, clamp bolts having their head ends afforded fulcrum support in the barrier with the threaded ends through the key-hole slots aforesaid, complementarily-sha ed nuts adapted for passage'through said ey-hole slots and coaction with the hinged members to secure the latter in active position or support them when inactive, and stops on the hinged members engageable by the nuts to prevent accidental release of the hinged members from the clamp bolts.

9. An attachment for flat carriers comprising a stationary barrier including end members secured in spacial relation by paralleling retainers with intervening partitions, members hinged at the ends of said barrier with key-hole slots at right angles to their axes .of movement, clamp bolts having their head ends afl orded fulcrum support in the barrier partitions and their threaded ends extended through the key-hole slots afore-.

said, and complementarily-shaped nuts adapted for passage through said slots and coaction with the hinged members to secure the latter in activity and support them when inactive.

10. An attachment for fiat carriers comprising a stationary barrier including end member's secured in spacial relation by paralleling retainers with medially located intervening partitions, said partitions having elongate vertical apertures therein, members hinged at the ends of the barrier with keyhole slots at right angles to their axes of movement, clamp bolts having their head ends afforded fulcrum support'in the partitionapertures with the screw-threaded ends extended through the key-hole slots aforesaid, and similarly-shaped nuts adapted for passage through said slots for coaction with the hinged members to secure the latter in active position and support them when in-- tion apertures with the screw-threaded ends extended through the key-hole slots aforesaid, similarly-shaped nuts adapted for passage through said slots for coaction with the hinged members to secure the latter in active position and support them when inactive, and stops on the hinged members at the juncture of the cylindrical and slotted portions of the key-hole slots for coaction with the nuts to prevent accidental. release of said hinged members;

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Altoona, Pennsylvania, this 4th day of February, 1931.

FREDERICK K. FILDES. 

